Conventionally, there are vehicles that mount a vehicle opening/closing body control device that controls the operation of a drive device to open/close an opening/closing body such as a slide door. Such a vehicle opening/closing body control device has a function to detect that a foreign object is trapped by the opening/closing body during the opening/closing operation of the opening/closing body by driving the drive device.
Conventional methods of detecting trapping of a foreign object includes a method of detecting a foreign object based on changes of parameters such as a change of a value of current supplied to a motor as a driving source of a drive device and a change of a velocity of the movement of the opening/closing body (for example, Patent Document 1) and a method of detecting a foreign object using sensors such as a touch sensor (pressure sensor) (for example, Patent Document 2). When trapping of a foreign object is detected, the moving direction of the opening/closing body is reversed to move off the trapped foreign object.
In recent years, it has been proposed that after reversing the moving direction of the opening/closing body, the opening/closing body be moved by a predetermined distance, and then stopped at an intermediate position in the operation range of the opening/closing body. Then, the same foreign object is restricted from being trapped again by the opening/closing body, the moving direction of which has been reversed. Refer to the description of paragraph [0040] of Patent Document 2, and Non-Patent Document 1.
Another conventional vehicle opening/closing body control device has a function to stop the opening/closing body at an intermediate position in the operation range of the opening/closing body when the opening/closing manipulation (for example, manipulation of a door handle) by a user is detected during the opening/closing operation of the opening/closing body by the drive device. For example, refer to Patent Documents 3 and 4. This limits the amount of opening of the opening/closing body at a time of rainy weather, for example, to the minimum amount of opening in which a user can exit/enter the vehicle to improve convenience.